Malcolm Byrne is an award-winning author and editor of several books on US-Iran relations. Since 1997, he has run the nongovernmental National Security Archive's multinational Iran documentation project, based at The George Washington University, and has made numerous trips to the Islamic Republic.

How to Read a Declassified Document; Introduction; Chronology of events; 1. Blindsided: confronting the revolution and the hostage crisis, 1977-1981; 2. Turmoil in the Gulf: the Iran-Iraq war and the spread of radical Islam, 1980-1989; 3. Leaps of faith: from containment to dialogue, 1990-2000; 4. Missed opportunities: from 9/11 to Iraq to the nuclear impasse, 2001-2008; 5. Breakthrough: long road to a short-lived deal, 2009-2016; Epilogue. Back to basics: déjà vu after four decades, 2017-2018; Conclusion.